The Prize
by NewEnglandFan
Summary: COMPLETE. Sheppard's team, the Wraith, and a cell of Renegade Genii are all after something very valuable. But first, Sheppard has to have a really scary, really bad day before anyone is sure this Prize even exists, or what it actually is. Rated T for violence (including a VERY BRIEF scene of attempted sexual assault) and suggestive language.
1. Chapter 1 - Lost and Found

**The Prize**

**Chapter 1 – Lost and Found**

_**On the planet Tigan…**_

"Ahhh!" The beam from the energy weapon grazed Sheppard's neck, the pain sharp and unrelieved by the cold rain. Damn, he was a good shot! And why was it that everyone had guns like Ronon's except John? One of these days he'd get one, no, make that a dozen of 'em. In the meantime…the man he was chasing through the scraggly woods was barely visible, well camouflaged by the weather and the rapid approach of night. Only the infrequent red flashes from his gun betrayed his position.

Sheppard was blessed by a brief pause in the veil of rain. He ducked behind a tree and listened hard, hoping his opponent would give himself away. He did – John could hear him crashing carelessly through the thorny undergrowth. Where the heck were Lorne and Ronon? Hopefully taking care of this guy's three friends. John knew he shouldn't have let himself get separated from the others, but he'd been taken by surprise when the man had broken away from the other renegade Genii. Sheppard couldn't risk using his radio again to get help; the noise might give him away. He crept closer, and took careful aim at the figure up ahead. He had him, he knew it…until he felt his ankle twist, caught in a tree root, as the soggy ground suddenly gave way beneath him. He plunged into a deep, dark hole, crying out in surprise and pain as his body thudded against the bedrock wall of the pit. He was unconscious before he hit the ground. John fell hard onto fetid, damp earth, saved from a broken neck only by thick masses of rotting vegetation – and by whatever cosmic good luck he had going for him in situations that would have killed just about anyone else.

ooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooo

The door to the crumbling stone cottage flew open, and almost off its hinges, propelled as much by the wind and rain as by Ronon's enormous frustration.

"How did they get away from us?!"

"Ronon, letting your anger get the best of you will not help our efforts," said Teyla, pulling off her drenched jacket, "although I also do not understand how they are eluding us so successfully. Oh, no, look at your arm! Were you hit?" Blood oozed from a tear in Ronon's coat. It was trickling down his sleeve and staining the ancient wood floor.

"What, this? Nah, I slipped in the mud and nearly got skewered by a tree branch."

"The terrain is difficult, even in good weather," said Zovel, shaking water off his clothes as he and two of his own men went inside. Commander Ren Zovel was head of security for the Tigan government. "The storm is intensifying; it will soon be too dangerous to be outdoors. We can try again at first light; the rain hopefully will have ended by then. Do not worry; the Ring of the Ancestors is well-guarded by both your men and mine. The Genii cannot possibly escape."

"Yeah, I know, I know, but damn it! We had them! _Before_ it started to rain!" Ronon tore off his long coat, draped it over a chair next to the fire, and started to pace.

"That's not our only problem," said Lorne. "Where's Colonel Sheppard? I haven't been able to reach him for nearly 30 minutes. 'Course, with the radios acting up so much, we might have missed each other. I was hoping he'd be here, though, since we didn't run into him on the way back."

"What was his last position?" asked Zovel.

"He'd split off from us, remember? Over near those weird rocks – the reddish-orange ones. Somehow Sheppard got his radio to work. The message was kinda garbled, but I _know_ he said he had one of them in sight," said Ronon.

"I heard his transmission as well," added Teyla.

"I'll try to raise him _again_." Lorne turned on his walkie-talkie and called for Sheppard. All he got was static.

Ronon tried his own handset. "Nothing. We gotta go back out there. If they have him…!" He grabbed his coat.

"Ronon, Ronon, hold up!" Lorne intercepted him at the door. "I'm worried, too, but it might be that he just got turned around in the storm. Commander Zovel, can you give us some more men? I can pull one or two of mine from the Gate. Whether Colonel Sheppard's had an accident, or he's been captured, we need a lot more help out there."

"The weather…" began Zovel.

"With all due respect, Sir…the hell with the weather."

"Yes, I appreciate the urgency, Major, but please remember what I told you when your people first arrived. We are at risk the longer we stay outside. My men and I are not cowards, but this part of our world…there is a reason it is virtually uninhabited. You can see for yourself that this cottage has been abandoned for decades, if not centuries. The geology of these lands is harsh, the soil and water are dangerously polluted, and the animal life, oh, you would never want to..."

"All the more reason for us to get back out there and find Sheppard," said Lorne, cutting him off. "And, we _have_ to find out what the hell the Genii are doing here. Atlantis has an alliance with Ladin Radim, a strong one, but Genii rebels are still out there. And when they show up out of the blue on some planet, and a peaceful and, no offense, ordinary one like yours, I want to know why!"

_**Somewhere out in the wilderness…**_

Their breath hung in hot, rancid clouds as the ape-like animals returned to their den, prey securely in tow, crude loops of sinew binding its feet and wrists. The one dragging Sheppard's body yanked hard on the rope whenever his clothes – or skin – caught on protruding rocks or tree roots. Droplets of John's blood left a trail behind him in the dirt as he was hauled, still unconscious, deeper and deeper into the caves. The creatures carried off their prize quickly and easily before others of their kind could detect his scent and challenge their claim. It had not taken them long to find the human, crumpled and senseless at the bottom of the pit. Their biology was finely attuned to any sound, any odor, any change in the norm of their subterranean environment. Millennia of evolution had left them perfectly adapted for life so far below the Tigan wastelands.

The tunnel terminated in a large, open space. On one side were five nests, easily big enough for a man, formed out of small branches and held together by a wattle and daub of pebbles, twigs and mud. Each nest was partially sheltered by skins draped over a latticework made of branches and the rib and long bones of past meals. The embers of a small fire smoldered in the center of the chamber, the smoke wafting gently upwards and beyond imposing stalactites. Across the way were four mounds, each about half a foot tall and several feet across. With powerful clawed hands the animals dug out a shallow hole, rolled John into it, then partially covered him up with a thin layer of soil, forming a fifth mound. One of the creatures began making rapid, multi-pitched grunts. At that, four of them turned and headed back down the tunnel. One stayed behind. He picked up a large rock and a long, sharpened branch, moved a few yards away from Sheppard, and then squatted down. His eyes never left the human's still form.

ooooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooo oooo

Commander Zovel was right; conditions outside were becoming impossible. They had enough men to form three search parties, but with radio communication so spotty, they had a hard time coordinating their efforts. And, it was now completely dark. Night-vision equipment was pretty much useless. It was raining at least 1/2 inch per hour, and the air was full of wind-blown leaves and twigs.

The three teams had agreed to meet at the strange outcrop of rocks every thirty minutes. After two hours, there was still no sign of Sheppard – or the four Genii they had been chasing.

"Are you certain your space craft cannot help in the search?" asked Zovel.

"I'd love to use it, Sir," said Lorne, "but you saw what happened earlier today – the Jumper began to malfunction as soon as we neared the wastelands. It can fly, but none of its scanning technology works. We have virtually no air-to-ground communications. We have onboard weaponry, but the targeting system is inoperable. It seems like nothing involving complex wavelengths – including our radios – works in this specific region. You heard Dr. McKay: he thinks the mineral composition of the area's soil and bedrock, maybe even anomalies in the planet's magnetic field, are disrupting our equipment. He's been back at the Jumper all this time, trying to find a way around these problems, but so far, no luck."

"Which means we do everything on foot. Enough with the talking. Let's get out there again!" said Ronon impatiently.

Lorne gave Ronon a stern look, paused, then said, "Ronon's right. We need to expand our search radius and see what we find. If you locate Colonel Sheppard, or anything of interest, send up a flare so we can pinpoint your location." As each group moved out, Lorne smiled to himself. He could have reprimanded Ronan just then, but he probably would have ignored him. The young man was motivated by a sense of loyalty and responsibility that, for him, sometimes took priority over observing proper protocol. Lorne knew Ronan had been in the Satedan military. He must have been quite a challenge for those commanding officers, too.

_**Deep below…**_

Sheppard woke with a gasp, flat on his face, sucking in dirt through his nose and mouth. He started to choke, and in a spasm of coughing hacked up thick, muddy phlegm.

Which he couldn't see in the near pitch-black darkness of…wherever he was.

"Jesus Christ, now what? Oh shit…talking's not a good idea, John!" he wheezed, spitting out grit.

He lay still for a minute, groggy and confused, and tried to sort things out. He slowly remembered what had happened. Rain. Bad guy up ahead. Then, panic when he felt nothing beneath him but air.

He was buried in a pile of dirt. He was freezing. Bone-chilling cold seeped through his wet clothes. And he hurt – everywhere. In his plummet down into the pit John had caromed off of granite. His left arm felt broken. He'd been fortunate not to crack his spine.

Sheppard realized he was tied up, hands in front, with what felt like…what was it…leather? His ankles were bound, too. Alright, what the hell was going on, and where was he? As he awkwardly tried to push himself to his knees, he yelped and collapsed in pain. Oh, yeah, arm broken. His right ankle wasn't so great, either, and felt swollen tight inside his boot. He tried to shake some of the dirt off his head and face so he could see, but nearly threw up as his skull pounded in protest at the movement. Taking a deep but trembling breath, John turned carefully onto his bleeding back. He fumbled at his belt and found the sheath which…_wasn't_ holding his knife. He didn't feel his other weapons on or near him. Had he lost them in the fall? Damn it! OK, Plan B, see if he still had his mini-flashlight or a glow stick in his vest, or Plan C, find a sharp rock – in the dark…

But now he realized it wasn't so dark. Patches of natural phosphorescence, scattered throughout what John now saw was a cave, gave off a faint, greenish glow. Alright, things were looking better. But as Sheppard tried again to get up, a huge, looming shape blotted out the light. He was struck hard on the shoulder by a piece of wood and fell back into the shallow hole. Incredibly strong hands pulled him up and pinned him high against the wall, leaving his bound feet dangling in mid-air. He kicked out in desperation, but the towering bulk just moved in closer, pushing him harder. John was completely immobilized by someone – or something – that he couldn't quite see beyond its black, bright eyes. He could smell it, though, and feel it. The creature was encrusted with dirt and stank of dung. Its coarse fur reeked of sour, rotting vegetation, and its breath was as vile as decomposing flesh. When John tried to talk the animal gave a loud shriek. Answering cries called back from down the tunnel. Sheppard was then slammed against the rocks. As his head and arm exploded in pain, he slid to the ground and into unconsciousness, dimly comprehending that a few broken bones were the least of his troubles right now.

ooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooo

Slowly and painfully, John regained his senses. Glints of light hurt his half-closed eyes. It was bright, much too bright.

And the sound…it pierced his ears, drilling right into his throbbing head.

"Please, stop, I can't…" moaned a disoriented Sheppard.

The high-pitched chattering of the creatures ceased, replaced by low, sinister growls. All eyes turned to the human.

John froze, muscles tense. More of the things were with him now, huddled next to a large, crackling fire. He had no way to escape if they attacked; he was half on his back in the shallow pit, with a lame ankle and a useless left arm.

But, as quickly as they had noticed him, the creatures lost interest. They were too busy eating, tearing great chunks of bloody meat from a large carcass. Having no idea how long he might be ignored, John frantically evaluated what he was up against. There were five, well, for lack of a better term, cave-men. Each was about 5' 8", stocky, broad-shouldered, and had fur over most of their body. They had deadly-looking claws, and massive talons instead of toes. Sheppard flinched as two of them suddenly barked at each other and jumped up, grappling for the same piece of meat. And that was when he first noticed their mutations. One had fangs which protruded frighteningly from a severe cleft palate. Strange fleshy growths covered its chest, and it seemed to have only one ear. The other creature had one eye opaque with cataracts, and what looked like a grotesquely malformed penis and scrotum. A third animal had a withered stump instead of an arm, and was bald.

John decided to just lay still and be as invisible as possible. That meal looked substantial and hopefully it would take them a long time to polish it off.

But he had to find a way out of there, and preferably not in someone's stomach. Ever so carefully he dug his hands, now loosely tied given how much they'd thrown him around, through the dirt. There had to be something nearby he could use to escape. If he only had a gun! A rock, or even one of those big bones would…

Oh, god. He was so stupid. "Please, please still be there," he prayed. As quietly as he could, cringing when some dirt and rocks shifted in the pit, John slowly patted his vest…

…and gingerly wrapped his fingers around the grenade.

OoooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooo

The bright orange flare led everyone to Lorne's position – and to what he had found.

"Take a look." Squatting down, from under a bush he pulled out a severed arm, bloody and shredded where it had been ripped from the shoulder, and still wearing part of a shirt.

"Oh, dear god, it's not…!" cried McKay.

"No, no, relax, it's not him." Peeling back the sleeve, Lorne indicated a small mark on the inner arm. "Tattoo. It means he's a Genii insurgent. Now we know what happened to _one_ of the four we've been chasing."

"Where's the rest of him?"

"That's all I found, Ronon."

The group stood silent for a moment.

"Well, now what?" griped McKay. "We've covered every square inch of this miserable piece of real estate. _Where on earth is Sheppard_?"

Zovel answered him. He looked sick. "The Colonel…I don't think he's _**on **_Tigan anymore…"

**To Be Continued…Will Lorne's team find John? Or, will John 'dig' himself out of trouble? Stay tuned.**


	2. Chapter 2 - Lost and Found, part II

**The Prize**

_**Chapter 2 – Lost and Found, Part II**_

_**Narrow Escape…**_

John couldn't believe his luck. He worked to control his breathing; the adrenalin was starting to flow fast. After making sure the grenade wouldn't roll off his chest and into the dirt, he stretched and pulled at the sinew that bound his wrists until he was able to wriggle free. The fingers on his left hand hardly worked, though; they were numb with pain and very swollen. John felt as helpless as an upside-down turtle in his current position in the pit. If he was going to be able to use the grenade effectively, meaning, blow the damn things to kingdom come, he needed to be sitting up, or better yet, standing. He stowed the grenade in a pocket easily accessible with his right hand.

He kept close watch on the creatures. All five were in view, fairly close together. If they stayed in one big clump, the grenade would probably kill or injure them all at once. If they started moving around, John honestly didn't know what he would do. Maybe there was something in the cave that he could use to defend himself. He really needed to get a better view of his surroundings.

The creatures were devouring the bloody flesh. A pile of discarded bones started to accumulate near the fire. John checked them out. Maybe he could use one as a weapon, maybe he…oh no, oh no. One of the bones…it was wearing a heavy belt buckle and a large piece of shredded cloth pants. Whose?! Not one of his people, no f-king way, don't let it be one of them. But wait. Even though the metal was splattered with blood, Sheppard could see the buckle had a very ornate design embossed upon it. In his opinion, it wasn't Atlantis military issue.

So the body couldn't be Lorne or one of the Marines. And the color of the fabric didn't match what the Tigans, Ronon or Teyla had been wearing the last time John saw them.

It could be one of the Genii. That would explain why they'd been having such a hard time tracking the rebels down – the mutants were doing the job for them.

Sheppard resisted the urge to gloat. No enemy, except the Wraith, deserved such a fate.

Distracted by the awful revelation, Sheppard was caught dangerously off-guard when one of the creatures began shrieking and throwing bones. It was the one who had _lost_ the food fight. The other four glowered at it, and clutched their meat tight against their chests. Oh, no. This guy was still hungry, and it looked like John was the only thing left on the pantry shelf.

The animal lunged at Sheppard so quickly that reaching the grenade was impossible. It seized him by the throat with both hands then flung him down next to the fire – a blatant 'in-your-face' posturing meant to show the others that John was his. Sheppard lay on the ground, gasping and clutching his left arm. He had landed on it so hard that his vision began to gray from the pain. One of the mutant's claws severely gashed his shoulder near his neck. The flow of blood, made fast by his pounding, pounding heart, excited the creature. It straddled John, lowered its face to just inches from the human's own, and raised its claw for the killing blow. That's when John's scrabbling fingers found the discarded rib bone. He thrust it up and deep into the animal's one good eye – for this was the creature that was half-blind. With its other eye clouded by cataracts, it could no longer see. It screeched and jumped to its feet. Sheppard then shoved his boot into the monstrosity's grotesquely deformed genitals. It screamed again, lurched backwards and fell to the ground, curling into itself in agony.

The other animals were momentarily transfixed by the attack. Now was Sheppard's only chance to get away. He yanked at the bindings on his ankles. With a strength that only desperation and terror could endow, he snapped the cord and was free. He half-ran, half-crawled to the mouth of the tunnel, his wrenched ankle barely able to support his weight. Plastering himself against the tunnel wall, he tore at the Velcro strips that secured the pocket holding the grenade. He pulled the pin, lobbed the bomb, and prayed. The sound of the explosion stunned his ears and reverberated like thunder over and over in the cave chamber. John's aim was on target; all five creatures lay dead or dying. The coup de grace came from a massive stalactite which suddenly crashed down on them, snuffing out any spark of life that remained.

After the smoke cleared, John stumbled back over to the fire. He found a bone that was long and fairly straight and lashed it to his injured ankle with his belt. Not exactly what Carson would do! He tucked his broken arm inside his shirt. Now, to find a way out. But what if these creatures weren't the only ones? If more of them were out there, they would certainly detect his scent unless he did something to camouflage it. Limping over to the animals' remains, he took a fistful of the gore and smeared it all over himself from top to bottom. If that didn't keep him safe, then nothing would except a gun – and all of his were gone. Then, ignoring the overwhelming desire to just keel over, he started down the tunnel. A glow stick he found in his vest illuminated the way.

_**The Gateroom on Atlantis…**_

Elizabeth Weir sighed anxiously as the Gate closed. The update from the planet was not good; in fact it sounded very bad, but what else was new? She'd long ago come to the conclusion that Sheppard's escapades would turn her hair completely gray before she reached 40. That humorous outlook towards her friend had helped guide her through countless difficult situations. She – and he – would make it through this one, too, she was sure of it.

Oops, she was doing it again. Yes, John was her friend, a good friend, but first and foremost he was Lt. Colonel John Sheppard, Atlantis's military leader and her most valued colleague. Letting her thoughts dwell on their personal relationship and what it was exactly…or might become…took Elizabeth into dangerous territory, emotionally and professionally.

It was a place she found herself visiting more and more.

Right now, though, she had to focus on the task at hand. She went back to her office and to the stack of reports on recent Genii rebel activity. Why were they on Tigan? Whatever the motive, it didn't seem to be about the Tigan citizens themselves. The four men had arrived on the planet a few days ago, claiming to be mining prospectors interested in exploring the Tigan hinterlands. Their nosing around had drawn Commander Zovel's attention. Anyone wanting to visit that toxic territory was, if not crazy, then dangerously foolish. He had put men in place as shopkeepers who could sell the strangers supplies and equipment. One of the men had slipped up when he tried to barter with a Genii-style knife. Zovel had immediately contacted Atlantis. Unfortunately – and Elizabeth and Sheppard couldn't believe this had happened – one of _Zovel's_ own men had been exposed when a townsperson had unwittingly addressed him as "Officer." After that, Gate travel was immediately suspended, forcing the Genii to flee. The Lanteans and Tigans had now been pursuing the rebels since early morning.

What were they up to? What did they hope to take away from such a barren landscape, from a place that the local population avoided like the plague?

Had Sheppard – and the Genii to whom the arm had once belonged – found it first?

Elizabeth threw her pen in such uncharacteristic frustration that it bounced right off the desk and landed in her coffee cup. She stood up to retrieve it, angry, then found herself sitting back down and smiling. Some of the tension began to melt away. "You'll get through this, Elizabeth," she said to herself. "In the meantime, find the humor in the situation. Heaven knows there's not much of it to spare around here. Let it help you cope."

_**A Detour and a Discovery…**_

John had no idea where he was or which way to go. His problems were compounded when he reached a three-way fork in the tunnel. Crap. Now what? Basic survival training taught that routes that supplied air usually indicated the way out. He found some matches in his vest and lit one in front of each pathway. The flame flickered near the tunnel on the right. OK, now he was making some progress. He gathered up handfuls of pebbles and stuffed them in his pockets. If this route ended up being the wrong one, he could use the stones, a la Hansel and Gretel, to mark the trail so he could find his way back to his starting point and the other two tunnels.

John wandered for what seemed like an eternity. The air was getting fresher and fresher and the match flames were flickering more strongly. He grew confident that he was headed in the right direction. Then, as he passed a smaller tunnel that branched from the one he had been following, he heard a noise. Shit, not more of those things?! No, wait – it sounded mechanical. It wasn't the clanging and pounding associated with heavy machinery, but instead was the soft whirr of equipment running smoothly. As much as he wanted to get back above ground, John couldn't resist the temptation to investigate. He limped along for about 50 yards, feeling dizzy and weak. "There'd better be something damn good down here," he said to himself, "or I'm gonna pass out."

He walked for a few minutes until he came to an area where there had been a small rock fall. Rays of bright light were shining through the rocks and making patterns on the tunnel floor. The pile of debris only slightly blocked his way. With just a little work he had soon cleared a path for himself.

What John found on the other side was amazing. A large, brightly-lit complex of rooms and equipment lay before him. He wandered about, opening doors which revealed what looked like laboratories, medical facilities, sleeping areas and kitchens. He couldn't tell how far deep into the tunnel it all went. It was like he'd just walked into a section of Atlantis. John knew right away, though, that this place was not made by Ancients. Nothing reacted to his gene, and he didn't feel that weird, but comforting, mental connection that he often experienced in the City. None of the furniture or technology looked Ancient, either. The facility looked abandoned; everything was filthy, covered in rocks and dirt and dead vegetation. Many things were broken or completely smashed.

One particular set of eight rooms, set apart from the other areas, caught his attention. They were designed simply but pleasantly, in muted colors and fabrics. Each contained what once must have been comfortable chairs and beds. In each room, on a table next to the bed, lay a flexible-looking skullcap studded with small spheres of a bronze-colored metal. Slim cables affixed to the top of the cap were snaked over to what looked like a large flat-screen TV mounted on the wall. Accompanying the furniture were complex rolling stations of medical equipment.

John was fascinated by what he saw. Was all of this some lost part of Tigan society? Was this place what the Genii 'mining prospectors' were looking for?

Sheppard would have to figure that out later, though. It was too dangerous for him to stay here any longer. As he headed back the way he had come in, he kept an eye out for anything that looked like a weapon. In a tall glass cabinet he saw what looked like Earth pistols, but with slightly longer barrels and a heftier grip. Sweet! The cabinet was locked, so John picked up a large rock and hefted it through the glass.

Which triggered the alarm. A very loud alarm.

Crap! If there were more of the mutants down here, that noise was definitely going to draw them out. John grabbed one of the guns and made for the exit. He clambered over the rock fall and then rushed as fast as he could down the side tunnel and back to the main one. The blaring of the alarm echoed everywhere around him, making it impossible to hear if anything was following. Where in god's name was the way out! He didn't think he could stay on his feet for much longer. Then, he started to notice something. The incline was getting steeper. The air felt more humid and had a sweeter smell, and the tunnel floor was turning muddy as tiny rivulets of water trickled through the dirt.

He had to be near the surface. If he could just…

The shrieks and snarls came echoing out of the blackness. Shit, shit!

About 20 yards ahead the tunnel's gloom was pierced by a faint beam of light. He could hear wind and rain, and…and voices! _Human_ voices. John faced the steepest incline yet before he could get out. His muscles screamed in protest as he scrambled over the rocks and mud. He was about 10 feet from the surface when he lost his grip and fell. The alien gun he had tucked into his belt was jarred loose and skittered away, far out of arms' reach.

Sheppard heard a snarl. He turned his head, and had the briefest glimpse of an animal in mid-leap, fangs bared. Then, from above his head came the deafening retort of a P-90 firing multiple rounds. The creature, and the two others behind it, were blasted to bits.

John looked up and saw his rain-soaked friends. "Pretty damn good shooting!" he shouted. "Now get me the hell outta here!"

Lorne peered down at him, grinning. "C'mon, Sir, wrap this around you and we'll pull you out." A long length of rope which ended in a loop was thrown down to Sheppard. He got it around his waist and under his arms, then tugged on it to let the others know he was ready to be brought up.

Within minutes he was on the surface. "Watch the arm, watch the arm!" Sheppard hissed in pain.

"Sir, hold on, we got you; lemme get this rope off." As Lorne knelt down to help, he got a whiff of John. "Ugghh, Sir, uh…what did you fall in? What the hell happened to you down there?!"

"You'll never believe me, Major!" Then John fainted.

**To be continued…Please read and review**!


	3. Chapter 3 - Strange Bedfellows

**Chapter 3 – Strange Bedfellows**

_**In the Atlantis Infirmary…**_

"Hey, he's comin' around again," said Ronan, getting up quickly from where he'd been sitting on the floor. The area around Sheppard's bed, like all the other times he'd been injured, had been a _little_ crowded over the past few hours.

"Well, he's been doing that for a while now, who knows if he'll stay awake this time," said McKay. "I'm not feeling so great myself, you know," he whined to the nurse. "Can you take my temperature again? I don't think you did it right the last time; I _know_ I have a fever. I've never been so cold and wet in my life, that planet was…" Rodney stopped talking when the nurse tapped his forehead with the sophisticated thermometer, announced he was "perfectly normal' (at least his temperature was), rolled her eyes in exasperation and turned her attention back to Sheppard.

"Colonel!" she exclaimed, surprised to see Sheppard's hazel eyes wide open and alert. He had been drifting in and out of consciousness since they'd evacuated him from the planet. "How are you feeling, Sir? We've been very concerned. Do you think you can stay awake for a while?"

"Oh, yeah," said John hoarsely, "now that I know how much Rodney cares about me."

McKay gave an insulted "harrumph" but at the same time moved his chair closer to John. The nurse looked embarrassed and busied herself with checking the Colonel's vitals. She was relieved when Dr. Beckett stepped in.

"Aye, you're looking much better, son," said Carson.

"And you smell better, too," said McKay.

"Rodney!" chided Teyla.

"He's right, though, Colonel," said Carson. "All the times you've walked – or been carried – into my Infirmary, you've never, uh, been in such an….unusual condition."

"Pretty gross, huh?" said John with a grin.

"Yeah, I think they've burned your clothes," said Ronon, chuckling.

"Well, it was either cover myself with cave-man guts, or risk being dinner. And it nearly came down to that. So what's the damage, Doc?"

"Well, I'm happy to say that you're going to be quite alright," said Dr. Beckett. "Your arm is badly broken, but with the wonders of Ancient medical technology, and some good old-fashioned physical therapy, it should be back to normal in a few weeks. Your ankle's just wrenched; no sign of fracture. And that claw wound, well, you're lucky. It could have slashed open several major blood vessels."

"John, what happened to you?" asked Elizabeth. She'd been quiet – unusually quiet, actually – so far. It certainly wasn't the first time she had found herself maintaining a vigil at John's bedside. But today…oh, what was going on with her? Anything related to John was setting her on edge. Was it seeing him all bashed up and torn up and covered in blood and guts? No, she'd felt uneasy before Lorne had reported him missing. And besides, Sheppard had been in peril and closer to death so many times before, so what was different about _this_ time?

John's snarky sense of humor shook her out of her reverie. "Oh, you know, Elizabeth, another typically bizarre day in the Pegasus galaxy. I was after one of the rebels, I fell, woke up surrounded by a bunch of mutant Neanderthals. Oh, by the way, I found one of the Genii, at least I think it was one of 'em."

"Was he missing an arm? We found one that had a Genii tattoo," asked Ronon.

"Uh, couldn't tell. They were chowing down pretty good."

"Oh, thanks a lot, Sheppard, I'll never get that image out of my head now," said McKay.

"Forget about that. I want Zovel to explain why he didn't tell us what we were walking into! Getting shot at is one thing, but getting eaten…Jesus…"

Elizabeth smiled her best 'calm John down' smile and said, "From what Major Lorne tells me – and he's still on Tigan, by the way – according to Commander Zovel, those creatures are night predators."

"_We were_ _out at night_..."

"But Zovel says they're not known to hunt during such stormy conditions. That's why he didn't think anyone would be in danger. And he says he did warn all of you about the animals. From what you describe, it sounds like a fluke – the storm got the ground so waterlogged that you fell – a classic case of the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Hey, don't let him off the hook so easily, Elizabeth," countered John. "And another thing – why didn't he tell us about that whole underground set-up? From the looks of it, all that technology…maybe that's what the Genii were after."

Nobody spoke for a second. "Uh, what underground set-up?" asked McKay, looking very puzzled.

"The one that's down there! That's how you found me, right? I had set that crazy alarm off, you guys heard it up top…how else would you have known where I was?"

"We found the, ugh, arm near there," replied Rodney. "When Zovel saw it, well…that's when he told us about the creatures and that we should look for ways they could have gotten to the surface – or a tunnel entrance you might have fallen into. It was pretty much pure luck that we found you, Sheppard."

John gave a low whistle. "OK, this keeps getting weirder and weirder. Elizabeth, McKay – you've gotta get down there – well, as soon as they get rid of the man-eating whatever they are – and check it out. It's not Ancient, and I don't think it's Tigan – I mean, wouldn't Zovel have said something? I only spent a few minutes there, but I know it's important. Think about it – most of the people we've encountered in Pegasus are anything but sophisticated, right?"

"Oh, god, Sheppard, sometimes they're so _the opposite_ of being advanced, it's pitiful, you know…" started McKay.

"I think Colonel Sheppard was being rhetorical, Rodney," said Elizabeth.

"What do the Genii want with that place? I'm still pissed that our surveillance got blown," said John. "What's the latest from Lorne and Zovel? Do they have anyone in custody?"

"Not yet," said Elizabeth, "but the weather's only just starting to clear. And you know they're not going anywhere, John. The Gate's under guard. Unless the Genii have suddenly mastered interstellar flight, we'll find them."

_**A few months' earlier…on a planet under attack…**_

"The Wraith, the Wraith! Seek shelter immediately! Oh, gods of the ancestors, please save us!"

But the Darts were everywhere, relentless and inescapable.

oooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooo

The walls of the Hive were swollen with the bodies of the preserved. The doomed were heard more than seen: they cried, they whimpered, they begged. Others were completely silent, whether in resignation or catatonia.

Except for four men.

"We must see your Queen! Hey, listen to us! We must see her!" they called out. The Wraith drones, by definition not really having a mind of their own, just growled and ignored them.

One of the four, younger, and with a lot of attitude, wouldn't be quiet. "You, you, get her second-in-command to come and see us! We are worth so much more than food! If your Masters learn of your incompetence…"

The drones had enough combined brain cells to do what he asked. The Wraith commander, tall and imperious, with a striking goatee, agreed to see them – if only for temporary amusement. He was intrigued; seldom was the catch more than a quivering mass of flesh.

He stood in front of the noisy one and glared. "Human, your caterwauling assaults my ears! What do you want? Your cries are proving sadistically pleasing but your fate remains the same as the others we have culled today."

"No, no, you're wrong, Commander! Let me get my hands free and I'll show you."

"Show me what?"

"Something that proves my friends and I are more valuable to you than you could ever imagine."

The Wraith laughed. "You are only hastening your death with such chattering. Your refusal to accept your fate is intoxicating. I cannot wait to feed upon you!"

The captured human would not give up. "If your Queen were to learn of the four humans in your custody, so different from these other mewling captives and that you ignored their claims of value…"

The Wraith was no fool. "Enough! What do you speak of? Show me this wondrous find!"

The young man smiled, completely confident and feeling assured, now, of his and the others' survival. "Around my neck, Commander…"

The Wraith ripped the fibrous cocoon from the young man's neck and revealed a thick chain. Suspended from it was a translucent, green crystal ovoid, slightly smaller than a chicken egg.

"You show me a trinket!?"

"No, it's so much more. Press the top and bottom simultaneously, Commander. When the seam appears, turn the top half counterclockwise."

The Wraith did as he was instructed. From the ovoid appeared a miniature hologram. An older man, clean-shaven, and wearing gray and blue clothes, was speaking, but too quietly to be understood.

"What, you show me a child's toy, an amusement? You are trying my patience, human…"

"No…listen…uh, tap the crystal gently until the volume increases…yes, like that. Now, slide your finger from right to left, to rewind the message. Yes…good. Do you hear him? How he identifies himself?"

"I am of the Eloran," the hologram intoned.

At the name, the Wraith's eyebrows rose. "I have heard of this race, but they are a myth."

"No, Commander, they are real. Or, they once were. They may no longer exist, but I swear that remnants of their culture still do."

"Why do you share this with me?"

"We propose a….partnership."

"What?"

"A partnership. We have knowledge of these people, clues about where artifacts may be found. We can ally ourselves with you and share in the spoils."

The Wraith shook his head, laughing. This human was proving to be highly entertaining. "You delude yourself. I will take this device from you now and make a gift of it, and your men, to our Queen. She will drain you of your knowledge and then feast upon your foolish lives!"

"No, Commander, I don't think she will."

The Wraith stared at the young man, both flabbergasted that any human would defy him, and also very interested to know why.

"Do you know who we are, Commander? We're not from that backwards planet you just culled. We are Genii!"

The Wraith was unimpressed. "The Genii are our enemy!"

"No, we are _rebel_ Genii. We have not given up who we are; we retain our independence. But in order to survive, we need food, shelter, armaments, what have you. Over time we've realized that if we can acquire certain things of value – such as this crystal – we can parlay them into what we truly need."

"Again, I say to you…what prevents my Queen and me from draining you of all information _and_ life?"

"If you do that, Commander, then you are the one who is foolish. Since the Lanteans awakened the Wraith too early, you're not just competing for food. Each Hive, or particular allegiance of Hives, seeks supremacy in science, weaponry, power sources, anything to make them superior to all others."

"Commander, your race is the most conspicuous collection of beings in the galaxy. My friends and I, on the other hand, can be your eyes and ears. We can go where you can't, learn and steal things of great value. And, if we find something but do not have the capacity to obtain it, we can utilize your forces to do so. Think about it, Commander – wouldn't it be better if we, as your agents, could carefully and quietly take something away? Or do you really want to draw the attention and ire of the Lanteans and their allies by exposing yourselves?"

The Wraith was quiet. He had been listening more and more intently. The Genii was getting his point, and his proposal, across to him successfully.

"What do you propose, human?"

The young man smiled. "Release us and I'll tell you. And it's Trask, Commander. Arvil Trask."

ooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooo

_**A few days after Sheppard's discovery on Tigan…**_

The Wraith Commander peered through his binoculars, barely able to contain his anger. "Explain to me, Trask, why you are still alive? Why I have not yet reduced you to a lifeless husk!?" he growled at the human next to him. The two were spying on the Lanteans from their encampment in the non-contaminated foothills which bordered the Tigan wastelands.

"Commander, I, uh…" began the brash young man, "yes, it is unfortunate that our operation was detected."

"Two of your men are dead and one is in custody…" reminded the Wraith.

"My man will not compromise us. Commander, everything may yet work to our advantage. Our intelligence was correct – there _is_ an Eloran lab here on Tigan. If it is fully functional, then we can let the Lanteans do the work for us. When the time is right, the Wraith can take over. You know how well your people mastered the technology at the facility we found on Daros, and how easy it was to modify it to suit your purposes. Hopefully, the Wraith can do the same here."

"I do not wish to remain exposed on this world any longer than necessary," complained the Wraith.

"Sir, your personal spacecraft is well camouflaged in these hills. Your cruiser is hiding in the shadow of Tigan's largest moon, and so should be undetectable – at least from the ground – by Lantean scans. A Hive can be here via hyperspace on your command. And as far as we know, the Lanteans are only searching for a renegade Genii soldier, not a covert Wraith force."

The Wraith smiled, looking suitably mollified, at least for the moment. He turned his attention once again to the unsuspecting Atlantis soldiers and scientists far off in the distance.

_**To be continued…I was sidelined by migraines for a week. I hope to publish once per week, if not more often. I hope this chapter seems enticing! Please read and review!**_


	4. Chapter 4 - Fiction or Fact?

**Chapter 4 – Fiction or Fact?**

_They approach…_

_They are strong…_

_We are stronger…_

_We are safe. We are safe!_

_Until the next cycle…_

oooooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooo oooooooo

After the storm cleared, Atlantis and Tigan personnel moved in. From his sick-bed, John drew a map in reverse, taking the teams from the point at which they had rescued him, back through the tunnels and ending up at the mysterious facility.

Fortunately, as Zovel had said, the things that had attacked John were night predators and did not venture above ground during the day. Atlantis' astrobiologists requested that the animals not be killed or injured if possible. Soldiers were armed with both guns and very powerful tranquilizer darts. Major Lorne supervised the deployment of non-lethal force fields throughout the tunnels. They found the large cave chamber where Sheppard had detonated the grenade. The body of another Genii fugitive, not yet eaten, was discovered there, buried in a shallow pit as John had been.

For something that seemed quite old, how was it powered? By the simplest of energy sources – geothermal and solar working in tangent. The place might have been running for hundreds, maybe thousands of years, and could likely do so for thousands more.

oooooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooo ooooooooooo

Carson gave up trying to keep his patient in the Infirmary; the Colonel was too eager to return to the planet to make him stay in bed. John hadn't had much of a chance to explore before he'd been forced to run for his life. Two days after his near-fatal adventure, he went back to the complex.

John wandered – well, limped – around slowly, now enjoying the luxury of taking his time and absorbing everything he saw. No one bothered him; they were too caught up in their own explorations to notice. He felt an odd sensation, one that he couldn't explain or resist, which pulled him towards the group of eight rooms. He entered one of them and carefully maneuvered through the dirt and debris that littered the floor. Everything was filthy. In a moment of juvenile silliness, John went to write "wash me" on the screen of the wall-mounted 'TV' – and jumped in surprise when it came to life.

"What the…?!"

A digital representation of an older man, clean-shaven and smiling, appeared on the screen. "Welcome. Please take your crystal interface from the cart and then sit or lay down comfortably." Huh? John looked around the room, wondering what the man was referring to. Then he remembered the wheeled, rolling cabinet full of medical equipment he had seen two days ago. In an open compartment were half a dozen or so green, crystal egg-shaped objects. Intrigued, John selected a crystal and sat on the bed. As he did, a panel on the nightstand opened. From it arose what looked like a pedestal, with a deep concave center. The man on the screen spoke again. "Place the crystal in the receptacle, and then put on the device." John followed instruction # 1 but was hesitant to don the weird contraption. The interactive digital 'man' on the screen must have been programmed to respond to hesitancy because he immediately said, "Take the device and put it on. Only good can come of it." John did as he was told, managing to get the cap, with its spaghetti-like bundle of cables, snugly on his head despite his broken arm. 'Jeez,' he thought. 'Nobody better walk in on me now, I must look ridiculous!' He swung his long legs up onto the bed, leaned back against the headboard, and waited to see what would happen.

The green crystal began to glow. And, though John couldn't see them, the bronze-colored, pea-sized spheres which studded the outside of the skullcap began to slowly blink in what appeared to be a random pattern.

The man on the 'TV' disappeared, replaced by images from…John's life.

But no, not _exactly_ his life. "What the hell is this?" John thought as he stared in fascination at the screen. Flowing across it were images, some which he recognized as true elements of his past and present life. But other scenes were fictional and seemed to reflect…fantasy, desire – no, not dirty desire, naughty desire, but, as corny as it sounded…yearnings of the heart, of the soul, from deep within. Some scenes reflected simple dreams – John saw himself flying one of the Air Force's latest experimental supersonic planes. Other images were intense –fictional battles during which he obliterated enemies whose faces blurred from Wraith to Earth terrorists to Replicators. John also had a sense that this tech wasn't just making visible the things he _wanted_. It was reaching deep into his sub-conscious as well, guiding him to recognize, visualize, and understand what he _needed_ in his life.

The images where he was making love to…oh, wow. This was going from fun exploration to scary self-discovery.

Whatever he had gotten himself into, he felt it asking him, encouraging him to yield to its influence because, as the virtual man had said, "Only good can come of it."

What the 'good' was, John didn't quite know. But for some reason he believed those words, and trusted the 'man' who had said them. He stayed connected to the device and followed where it led him.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooo

"Sheppard? Sheppard, what the heck are you doing? We haven't tested that equipment yet, it could be – hey, John, are you awake? Can you hear me…? Oh boy…(tap, tap) Carson, get over here…I'm in one of the rooms with the hospital beds. Sheppard's gone and touched something and I think he's in trouble…again!"

ooooooooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooo ooooooooooooooo

_**The next day…**_

Sheppard caught up with Dr. McKay at one of the large data stations that were scattered throughout the facility, where he was giving Elizabeth and Commander Zovel an update. Even with his arm heavily casted, his skin red and raw under the thick bandage covering the claw wound, and his right ankle firmly ensconced in a walking boot, Sheppard still managed to keep up with a fast-talking, fast-moving Rodney McKay.

"So, what d'ya make of this place, McKay? Pretty cool, huh?" asked John.

"Uh, is that Sheppard-ese for 'what is my scientific evaluation of this fascinating, apparently long-lost facility created by a highly advanced but as yet unknown race?"

John stared at Rodney, a goofy grin on his face, just daring the scientist to say…

"Alright, yeah, this place is 'pretty cool,' yeah, I'll sink to your level!"

"…and it's so cool, the way each egg-thing in those bedrooms…" continued John…

"…crystalline ovoid interface…" corrected Rodney…

"…fits into a cup-holder on the nightstand…"

"…it's a psychic facilitator, it doesn't hold a giant Coke…"

"…in the rooms with all of those awesome high-def TVs…"

"…neuroimaging enhancers! Do you read any of my or Zelenka's reports? Do you get all of your vocabulary from cartoons and TV commercials?"

"Fine, take the fun out of it," said Sheppard. "But you gotta check it out, McKay. That whole experience was completely amazing."

"Well, no way would I feel comfortable letting some machine snake its way into my brain. And that's what those…hats…look like – some kind of techno-monsters," said McKay.

"C'mon, it's safe. Beckett checked me out, Zelenka checked out the equipment – everything's A-OK. Carson even hooked himself up; he said it was unbelievable! C'mon, give it a try, McKay, loosen up."

"Uh, a little dose of 'look before you leap' might be a good idea, John," cautioned Elizabeth.

"Well, yeah, usually, but when have you ever been one to sit on the sidelines, huh?"

"Sit on the side…what?" asked Zovel.

"It means be cautious, not take chances, watch other people do things," explained Elizabeth. "But that's not what I'm saying, John. The technology in those rooms aside…we just need to have all the information possible before we take any further steps."

Sheppard looked at Elizabeth. "Who are you and what have you done with the real Elizabeth Weir?" he joked.

"Now don't give me that 'where's your sense of adventure' look, Colonel. It's just…this place feels odd to me."

She neglected to say that, when most people had returned to Atlantis the previous evening, she had stayed behind and used the equipment. In addition to seeing herself as, oh, the ego of it all, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, she had also seen…

Now she was afraid to look John in the face. With her fair skin, the slightest blush could give her away. Did this place explain why she'd felt so anxious about Sheppard over the past few days? Had she somehow been influenced by it, even though her initial contact with the planet had only been from her side of the wormhole?

Now wasn't the time to get lost in daydreams. John was talking to her. "We know who they are, Elizabeth. You've seen those other green crystal eggs that Zelenka's team found yesterday in one of the labs. They've got holograms inside, of all those people saying, 'I am of the Eloran,' and inviting 'those of open and giving minds' to find them."

"What the heck does that mean, huh?" said McKay.

"Don't _you_ read Zelenka's reports?" mocked John. "He thinks, and I agree, that those holographic crystals were distributed on other worlds, like they were recruiting people to come here."

"Yeah…OK, I admit that does sound plausible, Sheppard, but _why_ did they want people to come here? Was it for a good reason? No, Elizabeth is still right," said Rodney. "Now, yeah, they're mentioned in the Ancient database as decent people, no red flags…"

"Yeah, so why not….?"

"…but knowing their _name_, Sheppard, and a few stray facts doesn't mean knowing_ them_," added McKay. "Judging by what we've found so far in this place, that's gonna take a while."

"And, John," added Elizabeth, "If the Eloran were 'inviting' people here, if this was their home planet or maybe just an outpost for their work, then why does Commander Zovel say he's never heard of them?"

"I don't know," said John. "How long have the Tigans been on this planet, Zovel?"

"My ancestors settled this world nearly 2,000 years ago, Colonel. They fled our original home after a Wraith attack."

"So, the Eloran might have been here for hundreds or thousands of years, and then vanished long before you guys arrived. Jeez, I'm starting to regret ever finding this place."

John gave up, for the time being, on pleading his case. He looked over at Elizabeth; she didn't seem open to discussing it, either. "So, McKay," he asked, "_do_ we know anything new about the Eloran? Other than the really skinny reports I've seen so far?"

"Well, Sheppard, 'ask and ye shall receive.' Thanks to the Ancient database, we already know that they were – are – who knows – a bunch of pacifists who believed in mind/body wellness – roughly, that means that the health of the body requires a strong, healthy mind, and vice versa. A lot of mumbo-jumbo to me, but hey, some hippie-types believe in it. Anyways, it looks like the Eloran were practicing, or, at least researching that here. But that's where the Ancient records end."

"Well, I thought we were at a dead-end, but then Dr. Lin, one of our anthropologists, had an idea. She cross-referenced what we know about the Eloran with other Ancient records, but left their name out of the query."

"And..?" asked Elizabeth.

"The Ancients have a lot of info on, I guess you would call it folk culture, myths, legends, whatever. A people that _sound_ a bit like the Eloran are listed in this particular database. They go by a name that roughly translates as 'The Cloistered.' Ronon and Zovel never heard of them, but Teyla says that among some cultures, there are myths about a people from long ago who once defied the Wraith and escaped Cullings by using so-called 'magical powers,' not weapons."

"What happened to them? Are they still around?" asked John.

"The legends don't say."

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

_A blinding flash…_

_They are breaking through, they are breaking through…._

_Stay as one, stay as one, do not yield, we must not yield…_

ooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooo

_**The secret Wraith camp, not far from the Eloran base…**_

"Hey, you there! What are you doing here? Identify yourself!"

Arvil Trask looked up from where he'd been sitting by the fire, frying up a questionable-looking piece of meat. Camping out in the wilderness was starting to get really old.

He stood slowly, putting the pan down and extending his arms out to the side in that universally understood gesture of 'I'm not armed, everything's cool, OK?' In front of him was a young Tigan security officer who _was_ heavily armed and who most likely believed he'd cornered the last Genii fugitive.

"Identify yourself!" Well, Trask didn't feel like doing that.

"Alright then, roll up both of your sleeves!" Trask didn't feel like doing that either; he knew the officer was hoping to see the small tattoo he bore on his inner arm.

The young Tigan wasn't about to give up. "Sit on the ground and place your hands on the back of your head, or I will shoot." Trask did as he was told; he wasn't stupid.

But the young officer was. He had failed to check for other campers. As he holstered his weapon and went to handcuff the prisoner – Zovel would definitely promote him now! – the Wraith appeared behind him and snapped his neck.

"Ooh, I'll never get used to that 'crack' sound, you know?" said Trask, idly poking his foot at the poor man who had never stood a chance. "Good timing, by the way, Commander. I should have been paying more attention."

"Yes, you certainly should have," growled the Wraith. He knelt down and, in a terrible display of strength, wrenched the man's head completely off of his body. "Feed the rest of him to one of those beasts, Trask, and leave his head for the humans to find. Hopefully, they will believe our deception and blame his death on a tragic accident."

Trask, psychopathic as he seemed, was speechless for a moment as he watched the blood drain from the dead man's neck. The arid soil of their camp drank it up thirstily.

"We need to know what is going on at the facility, Trask. They have been inside it for three days now. If they find what we think is there, then history will repeat itself. Eloran myth will be transformed into a painful – and deadly – reality for the Wraith."

"Don't worry, Commander. I have an idea that I think will solve all of our problems," said Trask, as he reached down to pat the corpse's pockets. He soon found what he was looking for – a small, thin leather case containing the young officer's credentials.

"Please give me the chimera device, Sir. Now, what was your name…?" Trask pawed through the Tigan's belongings. "Ah, there it is. Commander, if all goes well, 'Officer Selak Jep' will be visiting the facility tomorrow as part of a normal Tigan security detail."

"You are certain that no one will detect your subterfuge?" worried the Wraith.

"Sir, all of our 'test subjects' on Daros were suitably fooled, even when it was actually the feeding hand of a Wraith that shook their hand or caressed their face. But, if it would make you feel better…If I do not return after one day, feel free to summon your Hive and do things your way."

_**To be continued…**_


	5. Chapter 5 - Incursion

**Chapter 5 – Incursion**

_**Moments after Officer Jep's death….**_

Trask was going to impersonate the young Tigan they had just slaughtered by using a chimera device. He and the Wraith Commander had found several of these fascinating creations at the small Eloran outpost they'd discovered on the planet Daros. Trask had been drawn to that world by a green crystal hologram he had purchased from an old man selling trinkets on Kalassia. Its message that he could find the mysterious people known as Eloran was too enticing to ignore. But before Trask and his men could get to Daros, they had been culled. Thank the ancestors that he'd had the crystal as a bargaining chip. It had allowed him to form the Genii's unholy alliance with the Wraith and get out alive. Their first stop after escaping the Hive was Daros.

Trask took the chimera device and placed it in the middle of the dead man's forehead. He wished the Wraith hadn't been so quick to kill Officer Jep. It was always better when he had a live subject to work with. Their 'experiments' on Daros had proven that. Now it would be a little harder to capture the Tigan's image and essence. But it could still be done if he acted fast; the unique neurological imprint lingered in the brain for up to several minutes. Trask watched as the device, which resembled a large gold coin, began to glow. Its light waxed and waned until finally it dimmed completely. Trask then took the object and carefully stowed it away in his pocket. Since it looked like a coin, most likely no one would given it a second glance. Tomorrow morning, before he headed into town, he would place it on his own forehead for barely a minute. He would then appear to all who looked at him – friend or foe, Wraith or human – like Selak Jep, who in actuality lay quite dead and quite beheaded at Trask's feet. He would also have all of the knowledge and memories that Jep had possessed in life. When he no longer needed to hide behind this visage, Trask would again place the device on his forehead and in moments would look like himself again. The only disadvantage to the technology was that after 20 - 30 hours at most, the image would disappear, fading forever unless the user acquired it again from its owner. But, as Selak Jep was now dead, Trask would have no second chances. If he didn't accomplish everything he needed to do as the young officer within little more than a day, then he would need to find a new person to 'copy,' or risk having his true identity exposed. Trask, however, had other means of hiding himself. A certain Colonel came to mind…

_**The same day, in the Eloran complex…**_

"Colonel Sheppard certainly made a mess in here, didn't he?" complained Dr. Lin, the anthropologist.

"Hey, be fair. You would've blown up a rare life-form, too, if it was about to eat you," said her colleague.

"Yeah, OK, but he could've…"

"Dr. Lin! Dr. Lin," interrupted the astrobiologist who had been dissembling the creatures' five nests. As the doctor walked over, he showed her a fistful of shiny, green objects.

"What are?…they look like the same material as those large crystals Zelenka's people have been finding," she said, "but these look like jewelry, like rings."

"Uh, guys?" broke in another scientist, "what on earth is that!?"

Everyone turned to look where she was pointing. The giant stalactite, the one that John's grenade had sent crashing down, was glowing faint green. So were a few others, high up on the cavern ceiling.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooooooo

"_I am of the Eloran. Journey through the Ring of the Ancestors and find us. Do not succumb to the Wraith. Come to us and we will teach you to survive using your mind as your only weapon. You are more powerful than you know. By being drawn to this crystal, you have made the first step." _

The words echoed throughout the cave chamber, the message repeating over and over until Elizabeth touched the holographic crystal and stopped it.

"This set-up, those rings, whatever's in the rocks, this has to be what that cryptic message is referring to," said McKay excitedly. He, Sheppard, Elizabeth and Commander Zovel were meeting in the cave after the latest discovery. "They were recruiting people here so they could learn how to fight the Wraith, right? 'Use your mind as your only weapon;' this has to be what the Eloran are talking about. Sheppard, do you remember anything unusual when you were in here? Were these stalactites glowing, were they moving or making any noises?"

Sheppard was leaning tiredly against an outcrop of rocks. His ankle hurt and his arm was itching like mad. "Rodney," he said as if he were speaking to a kid, "I don't remember much beyond stabbing that mutant in the eye and kicking him in the balls so he wouldn't rip my throat out. So, no, I don't remember any glowing, talking, Wraith-killing, fake stalagmites-"

"No, no, they're called stalacTITES; they form on the cave ceiling; stalagMITES form on the ground because of…"

"McKay, just skip the geology lesson and tell me what you're finding out up there?" asked John. 'Up there' was about 19 feet up on the cave ceiling, which contained a collection of stalactites, some real, some artificial like the one that had crashed down and killed the animals. Atlantis engineers had sent through a portable platform-and-crane contraption which allowed workers to be elevated high enough to study the mysterious Eloran technology.

"Ok, well, it looks like there's a cluster of six fake stalactites mounted at the pinnacle of the ceiling. The one you knocked down was the seventh one. Each 'rock' contains several thin veins of that green crystal we keep finding everywhere. We still don't know what it is, but it must have some amazing conductive properties. And, you can't see it from down here, but there's a narrow shaft that runs all the way to the surface, and it's lined with the green crystal."

"Do you have any idea how it works? How those rings fit in?" asked Elizabeth.

"Elizabeth, I think I know exactly what's going on. When Doctor what's-his-name over there touched the rings, he made them and the fake rock glow at the same time. It's the same physical/mental connection we've seen all over this place between people and that green crystal. Now, what's it all for? The Wraith would attack from the air, right? I think that the shaft containing the crystal focuses some kind of an energy beam, some sort of-"

"Death ray?" interrupted John. "That would be cool."

McKay gave him a look. "Do you know any other adjectives besides 'cool'?"

"So," said Sheppard, ignoring him, "we have to wear the rings and think, what "KILL WRAITH?"

"I don't think it's that simple, Sheppard. For one thing, where's our target? I don't see any Wraith hanging out around here, do you? Or do you wanna go find some so you can practice?"

John thought for a second. "Maybe we can crank it up to, uh, half-strength, something not too powerful? We can get some of your people on the surface; get some Jumpers in the air to observe what happens."

"Hmm, that's actually not a bad idea, Sheppard. Elizabeth?" McKay asked, looking at her for permission.

Elizabeth paused before she spoke. The unease she had been feeling about the complex was growing, and it was getting worse the longer she remained in the cave chamber. She tried to stall. "I think we need Commander Zovel's opinion, Rodney; it's his world, his people that we could be putting at risk."

"I trust your scientists' expertise, Dr. Weir," said Zovel. "And, if this is some kind of incredible defense against the Wraith that has been hidden on Tigan all of these years, then it is the responsibility of my people to study it as well."

Oh, well. So much for trying to pass the buck. "Alright, then," said Elizabeth, "Dr. McKay, Colonel Sheppard, let's get to work solving this mystery. Will a couple of hours be enough to get your teams in place?"

_**Later in the day…**_

"Well, I've got my ring," said John, limping over to the specimen tray and taking one from among the 22 that had been found embedded in the nests. "Elizabeth, Rodney, Commander?" They had decided that the four of them would assume the risk of testing the equipment for the first time.

"OK. Now what?" asked McKay once all four of them were wearing rings.

"Maybe we need to, um, hold hands or something," suggested Elizabeth.

"Uhh," said John, frowning.

"The Eloran devices seem to rely on physical contact with anything made out of the crystal. I think holding hands is a good idea, John, don't you?" Elizabeth made a point of staring at him as she said that. She hoped he'd take it as a 'it's my idea, I'm your boss, and you're going to like it' look, and not as a 'I don't think I can touch you without wanting to unzip your pants, but I'm going to try' look.

John hoped his 'eww' face would cover up his desire to just take Elizabeth over to one of the dusty bedrooms and rip her clothes off, broken arm be damned. He'd had his own erotic 'virtual' encounter, too, courtesy of the Eloran tech. Neither knew what the other had experienced, though, and that they were really trying to act like it had never happened.

"Yeah, great idea." John quickly offered his good hand to McKay in reply. Another narrow escape, he thought, smiling to himself.

Rodney asked everyone to form a circle directly under the collection of stalactites, close their eyes and think, uh, 'kill Wraith.' Cameras on the surface would record everything that happened and transmit the images to monitors set up in the cave.

At first nothing happened. John cracked open one eye, feeling awkward. Then, he felt it; they all did. Everyone opened their eyes. The rings on their fingers were growing warm and shimmered with a soft, emerald glow. From the circle they stood in arose a faint column of green light. As it neared the ceiling and its cluster of artificial stones, the column narrowed and the light grew stronger. The six stalactites were brilliant green and began giving off a slight hum. Voices suddenly crackled from the video monitors: "We're detecting a massive energy surge emanating from your position. There's a projection of green light reaching at least into the stratosphere." Another voice broke in: "We're detecting micro-tremors on the surface; we suggest powering down the weapon due to risk of possible cave-in or other damage."

Underground, John was getting nervous. The low hum was becoming a loud, irritating whine, and the light seemed dangerously intense. "Break it off, everybody, shut it down, shut it down!" he ordered.

But Elizabeth didn't seem to hear him. Her eyes were wide open and unblinking, and she was holding Zovel and Rodney's hands in a death grip. Suddenly she let go, stumbled backwards out of the circle and fell.

Despite his injuries, John reached her first. "What's wrong? Are you alright, are you hurt!?" Elizabeth got up off the ground slowly and looked around at her friends, dazed.

"I saw it, I saw them." She started to pace.

"What, you mean the light? We all saw that," said McKay.

"No, I saw…the Eloran…and the last time they were in this room, using this weapon."

John grasped her arm to steady her; he was surprised to feel how much she was trembling. "What, Elizabeth, what are you talking about?"

"Rodney," she asked frantically, as if John hadn't spoken to her, "all of the rings, were they found in this cave?"

"Most of them, not all, were found in here. Dr. Lin figures the animals used them like building materials, 'cause they make their nests out of mud and twigs and rocks and stuff. But we've also found some in other parts of the facility."

"But the _majority_ of them were found here, in this chamber?"

"Yeah, 22 here, and another 10 so far in the other areas. But, Elizabeth, why is that important? What are you getting at?!" said McKay.

"Dr. Weir, what is going on, please tell us," asked Zovel gently.

Elizabeth stopped moving and turned to face John directly. She looked like she was about to cry. "I saw them here, clear as day. I don't know how, I don't know why, but I saw the Eloran powering the weapon and fighting the Wraith. It…it was their last fight, John."

"What, the Wraith took them? They got Culled?"

"No." Elizabeth's voice grew soft. "The Eloran destroyed the Wraith, they'd done it before. But this time…there were so many Hives. The weapon consumed the Wraith…and took the Eloran, too."

"Took…?" asked John.

Elizabeth didn't answer. She was tracing the point of her shoe in the fine, fine dust, the dust that lay like a powder on the cave chamber's floor, and on the computers and monitors, the desks and chairs, on the beds and nightstands and 'TV' screens throughout the many rooms.

"Oh, no," moaned Zovel.

"What, what is it…I don't…oh, god, that's why we found so many in this one place…" McKay wanted to be sick, but he would have been throwing up on…

"Well, uh, now we know that the weapon works, and, uh, what happened to the Eloran," said John somberly.

"How could they have been killed by their own weapon?" asked Zovel.

Elizabeth, not McKay, answered him. "It took so much power this time. They had done it before, destroyed the Wraith." She stopped for a minute and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, I don't know how I know all of this; it's so overwhelming." Elizabeth had to sit down before she could continue. "Sometimes they didn't need to destroy them. They had the power to make the Wraith forget why they had travelled to this part of the galaxy, or to make them misread their scans and not realize this planet was even here. That's why they were able to survive when so many other worlds perished. They had such power, such an incredibly unique ability, their minds working together as one, all amplified by the green crystal. But this one last time…I can't tell what went wrong. The Wraith mounted a barrage against the Eloran unlike anything these people had faced before. But once again, they managed to repel the Wraith, destroy them, and protect this place, but…the energy they produced…it overwhelmed their minds and bodies." Suddenly, Elizabeth began to cry. "I can see it. They…they disintegrated into clouds of dust. Oh, God, I can see the rings falling down, falling out of mid-air! That's the only part of them that survived."

Her words echoed across the chamber. No one spoke or moved.

After a moment or two, Elizabeth broke the silence. "I haven't told anyone this, John, but, um, I've been feeling uneasy about this mission since the day your team went through the Gate to hunt for the Genii. God, I've felt uncomfortable every second I've been in this place. Maybe, maybe I have some special ability, some psychic sensitivity to what happened here…god, I just can't understand this."

"Elizabeth, uh, what can we do to help you? Should I, should I bring Teyla here, she's been working with Lorne and Ronon…" John didn't know what to do, seeing Elizabeth so distressed.

Elizabeth knew. "We can get this place running again, John. Protect the Eloran's legacy."

oooooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooo oooooooooo

"Uh, oh," said Trask, as he peered through the binoculars. He was following the column of brilliant green light as it ascended high into the clouds and beyond. Officer Jep needed to make an appearance sooner than expected.

"If that means, 'we must move ahead more quickly with our plans,' then I agree, Trask. I will accompany you to the facility. And we will go tonight, not tomorrow."

"Uh, Commander, I agree we need to speed things up, but we would only be drawing attention to ourselves if we arrived, impersonating Tigan security, in the evening, in mid-shift. We can go in tomorrow, first thing. Find a Tigan officer for you to kill…"

"One of a higher rank than yours, Trask…" He was ceding much too much control of this operation to that annoying human.

"Of course, Commander."

_**The next morning…**_

Since their plan no longer called for Officer Jep's remains to be discovered by his people, Trask made certain that the entire body was fed to the monsters underground. At first light, he and the Wraith made their way into town. Just before they arrived, Trask applied the chimera device to his forehead and assumed his new identity.

_**At Tigan security headquarters…**_

"Officer Jep reporting for duty, Sir," said Trask-Jep briskly.

The commanding officer of the day stared at him. "Jep, we've been concerned about you. You were due to report back a few hours ago. Can you explain yourself?"

"Yes, Sir, I apologize, Sir. I was tracking the Genii fugitive, but as evening came on I lost his trail. Given the activity of the creatures lately, I felt it safer to make camp in the foothills rather than traverse the wastelands at night."

"That was a wise decision, Officer, but next time, keep us better informed of your location."

"Sir, after being out in the field for so long…I would like to request working on the detail at the Eloran base, if that is acceptable?" asked Trask-Jep.

His commanding officer thought for a moment and then said, "That's acceptable to me, Jep. I think your efforts should be rewarded with a less arduous assignment. You have my approval."

Trask-Jep had never doubted he'd get it. He saluted smartly, turned on his heel, and went to meet the Wraith.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oo

Armed with his own chimera 'coin,' the Wraith had ambushed an officer already assigned to the Eloran complex who was a 'Chief;' it was a rank elevated enough to sooth his huge ego. Together, he and Trask-Jep slipped with laughable ease past unsuspecting security guards and deep into the facility they hoped to make their own.

It didn't take long for Trask and the Wraith to learn the layout of the place and the identities of the people who were primarily in charge – Zovel, Elizabeth, Sheppard and McKay. They decided that as soon as possible, the Wraith would assume Dr. Weir's identity and that at some point later on Trask would assume Sheppard's.

The man whose life the Wraith had taken was named Coro. Wraith-Coro wasted no time in tracking down Elizabeth Weir. He had to learn as much as possible, and as quickly as possible. Unless something went wrong, no one would be suspicious of him, in his guise as the female, moving all over the facility – after all, it was her responsibility to do so.

Wraith-Chief Coro waited until Elizabeth was off by herself before he addressed her.

"Ma'am?"

"Yes?" said Elizabeth, absorbed in her paperwork.

"Chief Coro, Dr. Weir. Commander Zovel sent me, he wishes to speak with you about something."

"Oh, why didn't he contact me using the internal comm system?"

Wraith-Coro quickly covered his error. "I believe it is something…highly confidential, Doctor. May I escort you to him?"

"Well, alright, thank you very much."

Elizabeth realized much too late, as they were entering an unfamiliar corridor, that something was wrong. The same unease she felt about the facility, she felt towards Chief Coro. She reached up to touch her earpiece, but the Wraith had anticipated her move. Before Elizabeth could cry out he clamped a hand over her mouth and dragged her into an empty room. With his other hand he stabbed what looked like an Earth epinephrine pen into Elizabeth's neck. Trask had wisely suggested that they use drugs, rather than Wraith stunners or other weapons, to subdue their targets. That way, they could control how long their victims were unconscious, and administer more sedatives as needed – at least, until they no longer needed Sheppard and Weir alive.

Wraith-Coro dropped Elizabeth roughly to the floor. He made certain to take her earpiece and destroy it. Then, as he had done earlier to Chief Coro, he collected her image and thoughts using the chimera technology. It took him only a few minutes to shed his identity as 'Coro' and assume the façade of 'Elizabeth Weir.' Wraith-Elizabeth quickly left the room, secure in the knowledge that, for at least the next several hours, no one would find the heavily sedated woman, stuffed inside a locked cabinet, inside a locked room, in a distant part of the complex.

Now, onto his next objective…

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Wraith-Elizabeth saw Sheppard heading down a hallway, chatting with a technician. He tapped into the woman's memories and emotions and soon realized the importance of neutralizing the male – while keeping him alive – and how easy it would be to do it.

"Colonel Sheppard, uh, John, do you have a minute?" Wraith-Elizabeth caught up with him as he walked, which wasn't difficult to do; Sheppard didn't look very well.

Wraith-Elizabeth knew how important it was for him to interact appropriately with Sheppard; the human female was falling in love with him but John didn't know it yet.

"John, what's wrong?" he asked, feigning concern.

"Now, don't you dare tell Beckett this, but I think I should have stayed in the Infirmary another day or two."

"I thought you had been cleared to go back on semi-active duty."

"Well, I thought I was feeling OK, but I can't shake this headache, my ankle is killing me, and I have _got_ to get a coat hanger or something down into this cast, it's so itchy...God, when did I become such a wimp!"

Wraith-Elizabeth saw an opportunity to get the male out of the way. Humans could be so fun to manipulate. He smiled at John. "After what you went through a few days ago, I think you can wallow – just a little. If it helps any, I need to talk to you about something, and you need to rest, so why don't we find somewhere to do both, OK?"

"Sounds great to me, Elizabeth."

Wraith-Elizabeth and John made their way through the complex, eventually reaching the Eloran sleeping quarters. Virtually no one was working in this part of the facility; it didn't offer very much that was of interest to the scientists.

Wraith-Elizabeth opened the door to one of the rooms. "This looks like a good place to…rest," he said, pausing provocatively. John hesitated at the doorway, looking quizzically at his friend. "Uh, I just need to put my leg up; I don't need a nap or anything."

Wraith-Elizabeth moved his body so that Sheppard had no choice but to step all the way into the room. He followed him inside and closed the door, then turned and stared at John in a way that made his intentions completely clear.

"Uh, Elizabeth, what are you, um…?" John started to say, a hint of a smile crossing his lips. Wraith-Elizabeth closed the distance between them in one step, and pressed his body against John's. Blue Wraith fingers, disguised as Elizabeth's delicate, attractive ones, entwined themselves in John's hair.

"Uh, yeah, Elizabeth…" All of a sudden John's leg didn't hurt so much anymore; his, uh, attention was being drawn elsewhere on his body.

"I used the special crystal in one of those rooms, John, like you suggested. It showed me..." Wraith-Elizabeth paused for a second, letting his words do their work. He knew he had his complete attention. "You used the equipment, too, John, right?" Wraith-Elizabeth drew the male's face close to his own. He was guessing that Sheppard desired this female, desired her very much. "You did see us together, didn't you, John? You must want the same thing I want…I know you do…" Wraith-Elizabeth pressed the black lips which covered hideous teeth upon the lips of the oblivious John Sheppard.

Sheppard kissed back, tentatively, then with increasing passion. He cursed the cast on his left arm as he tried to use his good arm to pull Elizabeth's beautiful body as tight against his own as possible. The Wraith used Sheppard's lust-fueled distractedness to his advantage. He suddenly broke the kiss and struck Sheppard hard across the face, sending him to the floor. Before John could react, the Wraith picked him up and held him in front of him, his arm around John's neck in a stranglehold. He maneuvered the struggling human in front of a mirror.

"Elizabeth, what, what are…!?" croaked John, speaking to the incongruously violent woman he saw reflected in the mirror.

Easily holding the injured man with one arm, the Wraith pulled the chimera 'coin' from his pocket. He pressed the device to his forehead and watched in sick glee as Sheppard saw Elizabeth's lovely face morph into that of his most vile enemy.

"No, what the hell's going on, what have you…?!" John tore at the arm that was choking him, and tried in vain to kick at his captor's legs. The Wraith grew tired of the human's attempts to escape. He increased his pressure on John's throat, just enough for him to pass out. He couldn't afford to kill him, at least not yet. As Sheppard collapsed at his feet, the Wraith removed yet another blank chimera device from his coat. Within moments he possessed Sheppard's image, which he would later give to Trask; combining that resource with Dr. Weir's countenance, the two of them could easily navigate not just the Eloran complex but also Atlantis – if they had time. The Wraith and Trask had to remember the limitations imposed by the devices. Each 'mirage' could exist for 20 – 30 hours, at most.

The Wraith injected Sheppard with the sedative. He also tore bed-linens into strips and quickly bound and gagged him. The drug would render him senseless for hours, but if he woke up too soon...He shoved John into a closet and jammed a chair against it for good measure. After reapplying the image of Elizabeth to himself, he shut off the lights, left the room, and locked the door.

_**To be continued… Please read and review, I would appreciate your feedback very much.**_


	6. Chapter 6 - Unity

**Chapter 6 – Unity**

Although deeply unconscious, John moaned. The Wraith's assault had re-broken his arm along the original fracture sites. Now it was bound tightly against his side. Agonizing, stabbing pain was shooting through John's body. Slowly, it was penetrating his drug-numbed brain. Slowly, it was bringing him back to reality.

But would he wake up before they came to drug him again?

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Elizabeth was still susceptible to the echo of the Eloran while she slept. The empathic connection she had to their memories pushed at her mind. It drove her, as Sheppard's pain did, towards consciousness. The imprint of the heroics that took the Eloran's lives might end up saving Elizabeth – and everyone else on Tigan.

ooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooo

The Wraith moved carefully through the complex in search of Trask-Jep. He couldn't allow the smugness he felt, on the verge of victory, to bleed through into his charade. He had to stay in control and exploit every opportunity he had to wrest this place from the humans. His Queen and two other Hives with which she was allied expected him to succeed, were demanding it. Once his kind possessed the weapon, they would turn it against the galaxy the Eloran had sought to protect. World after world, blinded by illusions of empty and peaceful skies, would fall. Eloran myths of vanquishing the Wraith would be crushed and forgotten.

Wraith-Elizabeth spotted Trask-Jep in a group of three other Tigans. "Officer…Jep, is it? Can I talk with you for a moment? I've heard you've been tracking the Genii rebel and might have some updated information to share."

It took Trask a second to register that the Wraith, and not Elizabeth Weir, was speaking to him. He'd looked like Chief Coro only a little while ago. His reference to the hunt for the Genii, the very thing that had gotten the real Jep killed, was the perfect way to get Trask's attention and leave no doubt as to his true identity.

"Yes, Ma'am, I'd be _very_ happy to speak with you," he said with a smile.

The Wraith and Trask were meeting in a small room Weir had turned into an office.

"So, you've taken care of her? How about Sheppard? There's only so much I can do as this Jep character," said Trask.

"I would not be impersonating the woman if I had not 'taken care of' her, Trask," said the Wraith. "Sometimes I doubt you are as clever as you claim to be."

"Now, Sir, no harm in being cautious. We can't have two Elizabeth Weirs showing up in the same room, can we? And speaking of rooms, where have you stashed her? One of us will need to drug her again in a few hours."

"I locked her inside what you call a 'kitchen.' I doubt anyone will find her. The area is littered with rubble and should attract no one's attention. Sheppard is imprisoned down the hall in one of the sleeping areas."

"Yes, Sheppard! Did he put up much of a fight? How did you get him? Even with his injuries, he must have been a handful."

The Wraith grinned sadistically. "I – what is the word humans use? – seduced him."

"Really!

"It was not difficult. Each desires the other, but they have not yet found the courage to act upon their urges. I played upon Sheppard's vulnerabilities and lured him into a most perfect trap. He was stunned when I revealed my true self to him. I was tempted to let him proceed with his intimate advances so that I could revel in his disgust afterwards! The sexual drive of your race, Trask, can be a fatal flaw."

Trask gave a snort of laughter. "There are so many worse ways to die, Commander! Don't be so quick to dismiss what you don't understand."

"Working with you is stretching my tolerance for understanding humans, Trask. I am not seeking further experience."

Trask laughed again.

"Here is his image. You must assume it right away. Jep's chimera will soon be fading, and he had limited value anyways. We cannot let much time pass without Sheppard's colleagues seeing him going about his duties. Already it has been more than an hour since I incapacitated him. Earlier, he was complaining about his injuries. We can use 'your' need to rest as an excuse to explain his absence, should anyone ask. And, remember those injuries when you move and walk! The device will ensure that they see the Sheppard they expect to see – a man who was seriously hurt only 4 days ago. But do not unnecessarily test the strength of the mirage by using your 'damaged' limbs as if they were completely healthy. Do you understand me?"

"Yes, yes. Limp with the right leg; don't really move the left arm. Anything else?"

"Yes. Look into Sheppard's mind so you can understand the nature of his relationship with Dr. Weir. I have done that with her thoughts. We risk betraying ourselves if we do not faithfully portray how they behave with each other."

The human nodded. The Wraith could only hope that his instructions had truly sunk into his impatient, overconfident mind.

"Good. Now, go and 'become' Sheppard."

ooooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooo oooo

_**The Tigan Foothills, still hunting the lone Genii…**_

"Ronon, we've covered this territory before."

"Are you giving up, Lorne?"

"No, I'm just saying we may be on a wild goose chase. I think one of those creatures got him, or he's hiding out in the mountains. We should survey that area with the Jumpers again. Our scanning technology works perfectly out there. There's none of the interference from the environment that there is in the wastelands. And, we should interrogate his friend again, the only one we arrested."

"Could he have made it through the Gate?" asked Teyla. "Perhaps he eluded the security guarding it, or hid inside something that was allowed to pass through? Gate travel has been hindered for several days; someone could have become careless."

"No way, Teyla," said Lorne. "We haven't let security get that lax."

"It's gotta be the foothills. I was talking to a Tigan officer. He says one of their men tracked who he thought was the Genii late yesterday – into the foothills – but he lost him. I got his search location. I'm gonna check it out – you comin' with me?" Ronon was walking away before anyone could answer.

Trask-Jep had, of course, filed a report listing false coordinates. So Lorne's team found nothing where the report sent them. But Ronon wasn't about to give up.

"That officer must have got it wrong. Let's search further out."

Lorne had to smile. Who was the Major here, him or Ronon?

_**Sometime later…**_

Ronon was squatting down next to the cold remains of a campfire. "This is recent. And more than one person was here. Could be the Genii and an accomplice."

"A _fifth_ Genii rebel?" asked Teyla.

"Maybe. Or a Tigan turned traitor," said Lorne. "Wouldn't Zovel love that?"

"Hey, look at this." Ronon had moved from the fire ashes to what was next to them – a large patch of earth saturated with dried blood.

"It could be from something they killed for food. The Genii would need to eat," said Teyla.

"No, there's too much blood for this to be some animal or bird."

"Maybe the Genii got taken by one of those mutants. If he got attacked, there'd be a lot of blood," said Lorne.

But Ronon wasn't buying it. "Nope. If he was taken, where's the signs of a struggle? There'd be blood all over the place. Bits of flesh, torn-up clothes. I don't see anything but a lot of blood in one little spot, like it was poured from a bottle. If someone was slaughtered here, it should be a mess."

"He could have been killed a few days ago," said Lorne. "Scavenging animals could've gotten the rest of him. Rain could've washed away the blood."

"No, it hasn't rained since the night Sheppard got attacked. It's summer here and it's hot. The ground is bone-dry. This blood – Lorne, whatever happened, the blood drained right into the dirt, like a body was lying here, bleeding out nice and slow. That doesn't sound like a man being dragged off by some vicious animal."

"So…?" asked Teyla.

"At least two people made camp here. Maybe one guy turned on the other guy and killed 'em, or…"

"…maybe somebody stumbled upon the Genii and paid the price," finished Lorne. "Let's go back and find out who filed that report and see if we can get anything else out of him."

"Wait a minute." Ronon was digging something out of the brush near the campsite. It was a small name badge, official-looking. There was blood on it. The pin that once held it to a coat was broken. "Officer Selak Jep, Tigan Security Brigade."

"I think we've found who all that blood belonged to," said Lorne.

ooooooooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooo oooooooooo

The Wraith and Trask, in their stolen personae as Elizabeth Weir and John Sheppard, were alone in the cavern chamber which housed the Eloran weapon.

"They haven't operated it at full strength yet," said Trask.

"No, but that will happen soon enough," said the Wraith. "In fact, we should hasten further tests. We must know as much as possible before we summon our Hives. Is this technology reproducible? Transportable? As much as we vie against each other, no one Hive can control the use of this force. We must be able to construct other weapons. Our efforts may be hindered, however, if they can only function using the green crystal. I have no knowledge of such a unique substance; it may only exist in certain parts of the galaxy."

"You've forgotten another unique factor," said Trask. "Without psychic power, there's no 'death ray'."

The Wraith laughed. "If you had not convinced me of your value, if I had instead given you to our Queen, you would have felt the true force of Wraith psychic strength. In our hands, the weapon will be completely unstoppable."

"Let me ask you: do the Eloran still exist? I don't mean the people that lived here. This place was an outpost. Where's the Eloran home world?"

"Good question, Sheppard," said McKay.

Trask covered the startled look on his face with, "Damn it, McKay, don't sneak up on a person, will ya?" That was close! How could they have been so careless? McKay and several others had entered the cave while the Wraith and Trask, _**not **_Elizabeth and Sheppard, had been talking.

"What have you found out, Rodney?" asked Wraith-Elizabeth. _He_ had managed to keep his composure.

"Well, uh, nothing really, Dr. Weir, I was just saying 'that's a good question.' You know the Ancient database didn't tell us much. We're digging through the Eloran computers, but a lot of the information seems to be in code."

"Well, that would make sense, McKay," said Trask-Sheppard. "The Eloran recruited people from all over the place. Would you want a bunch of strangers, maybe spies, learning everything about your secret hideout?"

"Of course not, John," said Wraith-Elizabeth, resisting the urge to grin at the inside joke, "but there has to be something around here that says where the Eloran came from. If their home world still exists, we need to find them."

"Yeah, but you know what?" said McKay. "Maybe they are still out there, but they're protected by another one of those psychic energy beams. They could be right under the Wraith's noses as we speak."

"Oh, that would be terrible, Rodney," said Wraith-Elizabeth. "All the more reason for you to keep digging through the records and find them."

"And I wanna get that 'death ray' fully operational," said Trask-Sheppard. "What's the hold-up?"

"Uh, just being cautious. You saw how powerful it was when we tested it yesterday; you're the one that shut it down."

"Well, that was yesterday. We should give more people the rings and see what happens," urged Trask-Sheppard. "And McKay, Elizabeth and I need to know if the Eloran built anymore of these weapons, or if we could build more. Can you take that thing apart and study it? Does it run only on that green crystal stuff?"

"Well, jeez, Sheppard, just ask me to cure the common cold while you're at it."

"Just get on it, McKay. I want a detailed report this afternoon."

oooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooo 

Lorne went up to the Tigan commanding officer of the day and introduced himself.

"How can I assist you, Major Lorne?"

"I need to speak to one of your officers; I don't know his name. He filed a report earlier today about tracking the Genii fugitive into the foothills. I'd like to talk to him."

"Ah, yes. That would be Officer Selak Jep. He is assigned to the Eloran security detail today. You'll find him in the complex."

Lorne must have heard him wrong. "I'm sorry, did you say Office Selak Jep filed the report?"

"Yes," said the Tigan, "early this morning."

Ronon, Lorne and Teyla exchanged looks.

"Sir, I need to speak with Commander Zovel immediately," said Lorne.

oooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooo

It was so hard to breathe.

Why…why was he gagged, tied up? He couldn't remember, he couldn't…god, his head was fuzzy.

It was so dark and cramped. His arm hurt so goddamn much.

His arm…oh, god! Elizabeth was a Wraith? No, the Wraith had pretended to…he'd tricked him…oh, ugghh, oh…and now John was, where the fuck was he! And where was Elizabeth! Was she dead?!

He felt around with his feet. A room, a small room – no, he was in a closet. He could see the faintest hint of light outlining the edges of a door.

His arms and hands were lashed tight against his body. He couldn't move his fingers close enough to remove the gag.

He wanted to sleep, to pass out; the drug was strong. No! Kick, Sheppard, kick the fucking door. Make some noise. Find something sharp. Get the gag off and yell.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Someone was out there.

Hey! I'm in here! His throat was dry from the drug and the gag. He cried out as loud as he could through the filthy cloth.

The door was opening. Yeah!

A man hovered over him. He was backlit, who was it…?

Oh, no.

Please, don't give me anymore, begged John silently, as the needle pierced his neck.

He was conscious just long enough to see his own face peering down at him. "Don't worry, Sheppard, she's still alive," said Trask, "but unfortunately none of you will be for long. Sleep well."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Trask found Elizabeth where the Wraith had hidden her. He knelt down to give her more of the drug. "You're very pretty, Doctor," he whispered as he brushed the hair off of the sleeping woman's face. "Very nice indeed. I can see why Sheppard wants you." Trask fingered the collar of Elizabeth's shirt. He moved his hand lower until it covered her breast. He slowly rubbed the nipple. Oh, yes…

Trask dragged Elizabeth out of the cabinet and onto her back. He stood up and began unbuckling his pants. The Wraith could handle things on his own for a while.

He'd have to. When Trask he went to lie on top of her, Elizabeth, taking a page out of Sheppard's survival handbook, kicked him in the groin. What? Why the hell was she awake!? He staggered backwards and fell, clutching his injured privates in agony. Elizabeth got to her feet, picked up a chair and smashed it down on Trask's head. He stopped moving.

Elizabeth stood staring at the man, wobbly on her feet and breathing heavily. The Eloran's influence on her mind had awakened her, but she was still dazed and exhausted by the sedative. She stumbled over to a chair. She needed to think. The unconscious man on the floor was John Sheppard. John had attacked her. No, that wasn't right. A man that looked like John had grabbed her, drugged her, and had been about to rape her. The same sense that had told her something wasn't right with Chief Coro was telling her this man was not John.

Someone was impersonating John. Why? Where was the real Sheppard, was he dead? Why had someone attacked her? If there was a fake John, was there a fake Elizabeth, too?

Elizabeth reached for her earpiece but it wasn't there. She thought about running down the hall, yelling for security. But, no. Who could she trust? What was going on? Elizabeth opened the door and cautiously stuck her head out. The hallway was quiet. The only voices she heard seemed far away. She'd just have to risk it and go find help. She looked at the man on the floor. She'd hit him hard. She didn't have the strength to lock him in the cabinet, and she saw nothing she could tie him up with. Please, god, let him stay out cold until I find somebody, she thought.

Elizabeth crept down the corridor. As she got her bearings she felt an unnerving sensation that Sheppard was in danger. It was the same feeling she'd felt back on Atlantis when he went missing. He was nearby. Elizabeth went from room to room, hunting for John. She reached a door that was locked. Her heart started to pound. In one of the empty rooms she found a lamp with a heavy metal base. She smashed it again and again on the door-handle until it gave way.

It took most of the little strength Elizabeth had left to shove the chair out of the way and break into the closet. "Oh, god, John!" she cried. He lay bound and gagged on the dusty floor, unconscious, pale and very still. "Oh, god, your arm." The cast must be broken, she thought; his arm was tied nearly straight against his body. She pulled the gag off and felt for a pulse. She turned his face towards hers. "John? John, it's me, Elizabeth. John, please wake up!" His eyes remained closed. There were two small red welts on his neck where Trask had given him the sedative. "John, you have to wake up!."

ooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooo

"Are you sure, Major?" said Wraith-Elizabeth. He, Lorne, Ronon, Teyla and McKay were meeting in 'her' office, hearing the disturbing report about Officer Jep. Trask-Sheppard, to the Wraith's ire, was nowhere in sight. Was it really taking him that long to drug the two humans?

He and Trask had a serious problem. "Dr. Weir," Lorne was saying, "even though we haven't found a body, I strongly believe that Officer Jep is dead and that he was murdered yesterday, if not earlier. And if I'm right, then who the hell – pardon me, Ma'am – who filed Jep's report this morning, and who's been working on the Tigan security detail? I have at least 10 people who swear they've seen Jep today. Dr. Weir, I think we have a spy in this facility, an impersonator, and a damned good one."

The Wraith answered as best he could. "I agree with you, Major. Something is very wrong here."

"Where's Colonel Sheppard, Ma'am? He needs to hear this."

"Colonel Sheppard, uh, hasn't been feeling well. His arm and leg are extremely painful," Wraith-Elizabeth improvised. "I haven't seen him for a while; he may be resting somewhere, with his earpiece removed. I'll go and find him right away."

The Wraith left the room. Where was Trask? It should not have taken so much time to deal with Sheppard and the woman. Unless…Ahhh! If Trask was…entertaining himself with the female, the Wraith would personally castrate him as soon as this mission was complete.

As they filed out of Elizabeth's office, Teyla lagged behind her friends. While everyone was listening to Major Lorne, her focus was on 'Elizabeth.' Something was…off with her friend. The chimera device told her that this _was_ Elizabeth. Her genetic ability to detect the Wraith, however, was pricking away at her subconscious. But the alarm bells weren't loud enough for Teyla to hear – not yet.

ooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooo

Elizabeth was terrified that at any second she would run into her alter ego, or someone else involved in whatever this conspiracy was about. She needed help desperately. She couldn't wake up Sheppard; Dr. Beckett was her only hope. She was almost at the makeshift infirmary they'd set up when she heard Teyla and Ronon's voices nearby. She gathered her courage and ran up to them. Her heart sank when she saw Teyla's shocked look and heard Ronon's 'Dr. Weir, what are you doing here, weren't you just…?' Things got much, much better when Teyla shushed Ronon, grabbed Elizabeth's arm, and drew them both into a corner.

"I was right. There is a Wraith here who somehow looks like you, Elizabeth," said Teyla. "We must find Colonel Sheppard. Do you know where he is?"

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooo

Wraith-Elizabeth was so intent on finding Trask, and suppressing his desire to strangle the human, that he didn't see Lorne and his men until it was too late. A barrage of Wraith stuns hit him from every angle.

Elizabeth told Ronon where to find Trask, but when he got there the man was gone. Elizabeth hadn't hit him hard enough, after all. Still in his guise as John Sheppard, he had skulked away.

oooooooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooo oooooooo

Sheppard was safe and sound in the Eloran infirmary. Carson Beckett injected him with a small dose of adrenaline. He also placed a melt-away tablet of medicinal caffeine under John's tongue. A saline IV drip was helping to counteract the dehydrating effects of the strong sedatives that had overpowered him.

"Will that work?" asked Elizabeth.

"It's the best I can do, Dr. Weir, if we want to bring him 'round sooner rather than later. He's deeply unconscious, but the adrenaline and caffeine may be enough to safely jolt him awake."

As if on cue, John's eyes suddenly opened and he began to hyperventilate.

"Easy, Colonel, easy. Just breathe slowly and deeply. Let's get you sitting up a bit, OK?"

John looked around at his friends, very groggy and confused. His heart was beating too fast and he didn't feel very well. When he saw Elizabeth, panic flashed in his eyes.

"No, John, it's me, the real me," said Elizabeth quickly. She grabbed his hand to reassure him. "I'm not the Wraith."

John stared for a moment at the hand that held his. "There's another 'me' running around here, too," he said weakly. "I don't know who he is, if he's a Wraith."

"We know someone was impersonating you, John," said Elizabeth. "We had him, but he managed to get away. We'll find him. We think he's the Genii fugitive, and not a Wraith." Because a Wraith wouldn't have tried to rape her. But she wasn't going to tell John or anyone else that.

This was a lot of information for John's drug-soaked brain to absorb. But the most important thing he heard was that Elizabeth was alive and safe.

"What about the Wraith? Did you get _him_?"

"Oh, yeah," said Ronon. "We've got him locked up. He's not talking, though."

"We found this amazing device on him," said McKay. "It's some sort of technology that lets you copy what a person looks like."

"What were they up to? How did they-?" Sheppard's questions were cut off by Lorne's voice booming over the PA system.

"Wraith! We have three Hives that just dropped out of hyperspace and are in orbit around the planet!"

No one had found the tiny beacon concealed inside the Wraith's body. He smiled in his cell as the alarms blared away.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

John sat up in bed, threw off the blanket and pulled the IV out of his arm. His legs started to buckle when he went to stand, but he shrugged off the hands that reached out to help him.

"Elizabeth, McKay," he said quietly, holding the bedrail for support. He was unnaturally calm. "Get all the rings and people that you can, and head for the cavern."

Eighteen people, for the 18 rings they'd managed to grab, stood silently in a circle under the stalactites.

"Just focus, everybody," said John. "We can do this."

But could they? With so many minds at work, a blinding emerald light soared above the planet, searching out the Wraith. But it wasn't enough. They were unskilled and, to be truthful, afraid. They were not the Eloran of myth.

John sensed the uncertainty and fear among the others. No, they couldn't fail! Failure meant death for everyone on this planet, and probably Atlantis, too. But then he felt Elizabeth's hand tighten upon his own. He looked into her eyes and…

An image arose in each of the eighteen minds, uniting and instructing them.

Fire. The burning embers at its heart seethed with intense heat and orange light. Flames consumed, devoured, destroyed the fuel which fed them. And then, when there was nothing left to stoke them, the flames dwindled. The embers cooled. Great hunks of ash fell away in a cascade of death. Light and life faded. Soon all that remained was cold and black and still.

Far above, the dust that was once three Hives drifted in defeat.

Far below, John caught Elizabeth as she fainted.

oooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooo oo

Trask knew their plot had failed. He had heard the cheers go up when the destruction of all three Hives had been confirmed. Time to get out of there. The Wraith Commander was on his own.

He overpowered two guards, stole a rifle, and quickly made his way to the tunnels that led to the surface. The force-fields that had been installed when the complex was first discovered would protect Trask from the man-eating mutants.

Unless they malfunctioned.

For some strange reason, _just_ as Trask was entering the tunnels, and _only_ along the route of his escape, several of the barriers failed.

A pack of the creatures was upon him in minutes. He fired shot after shot but there were too many. They brought him down and tore him to pieces. "No, no! Help, somebody help me!" he screamed as his neck was clamped by massive jaws. "Please! Please!-"

Crack.

ooooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooo o

_**Atlantis…**_

They couldn't get Sheppard away from her bedside while she slept. They couldn't drag him away when she finally woke up.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

John found Elizabeth on one of the piers in the late afternoon.

"Hey, who said you could play hooky from work?" John teased with a twinkle in his eye.

"Me! I'm in charge around here, in case you've forgotten," said Elizabeth, smiling. "And," she sighed, "I needed to get away from Rodney and Lorne and everything to do with the Wraith and the Eloran, just for a little while."

John sat down next to her and dangled his legs over the side. He stared out at the waves. "You're not hiding from me, are you?"

Elizabeth felt her heart jump a little. She looked at him. "John, back at the complex, I-"

"Tried out one of the rooms, huh?"

Even in the fading light of the day, John could see her blush.

"You know I did, too," he said softly.

"John?"

"Yeah?"

"The Eloran – why do you think I could hear them, feel them?"

"I don't know, Elizabeth. Maybe it's because you're a thoughtful, caring person. And, you know, your career has been all about working with people and understanding them, bringing them together." John paused. "Maybe that same sensitivity is, uh, bringing you and me together."

Elizabeth was quiet.

"Oh, god, I just sounded like some sentimental greeting card."

Elizabeth suddenly took his face in her hands and kissed him, a long, sweet, delicate kiss. "No, John, no you didn't," she said with a gentle smile. "Now, about what I saw in that room, between you and I…" That kiss was liberating. She felt her fears slipping away.

"Actually, Elizabeth, I've been dying to tell you all about what I saw," said John mischievously. He drew her in for another deep kiss, then turned her face towards the setting sun…

_...which was casting long shadows across the beach. His surfboard was propped up against a palm tree. John was sitting in a lounge chair, staring at the ocean. His muscles ached, but it was a satisfying soreness. 'Never too old for surfing, right, Sheppard?' he thought. He threw more wood on the fire. The flames shot up, alive and vital and bright. He picked up his beer. He took a sip and then held the bottle in front of him, enjoying the play of firelight refracted by the green glass. Droplets of condensation trickled down the cold surface, their paths diverted by John's fingers and by grains of sand._

"_Have you got one of those for me?" said the lovely brunette as she walked towards the fire._

"_I think I have something better," John laughed, and pulled her down onto the blanket._

**The End.**


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